One of the most important lessons I have learned over the course of my career is that timing is among the most important variables in crisis management, a fact that has become even more relevant with the introduction of the internet and social media.
The Backstory
Very early in my career, as an account executive at Burson-Marsteller, I had the opportunity to work with Larry Speakes, the former White House Press Secretary under President Ronald Reagan, who was then head of communications for Merrill Lynch, one of my accounts. While working with Merrill Lynch during the 1987 market crash, I first got my arms about the crisis management side of the PR business.
To this day, it was probably the most noteworthy crisis I have ever worked on.
It was a sad and stressful time for Wall Street, but working under Larry Speakes was the opportunity of a lifetime. Merrill’s then CEO William Schreyer was an exceptional communicator and under Larry’s guidance, Schreyer was one of the first on Wall Street to step forward and assure investors that Merrill Lynch was still bullish on America and the markets would stabilize. But it was not only how he delivered that message; it came down to the timing.
It was the sign of a true leader.
In fact, that move was so significant and well-timed that it was mentioned in his New York Times obituary.
Given today’s digital-first environment, we no longer have the luxury of time to get our message out until the paper is published and lands on people’s doorsteps the next morning.
As I tell clients all the time, if you are not the first to tell your story in a crisis, then someone else will…and they probably will get part of the story wrong.
Communicating through a Crisis Today
Here are seven tips to consider, with timing in mind during a crisis:
1. Gather your facts. Even if you don’t have all the information at the onset of the crisis, that is OK. You CAN say “We are still looking into this matter and will provide updates as more information becomes available.”
2. Designate your spokesperson(s). Ideally, you should already have a crisis communications plan in place and your spokesperson(s) media trained.
3. Leverage social media to get your message out quickly. If you decide, with the approval of your legal counsel, that you will be proactive about addressing the damaging news or allegations head on, use social media to expedite your communications. Share your story before someone else decides to disparage your business, product or conduct online.
4. Keep your best advocates— your employees—in the loop from the beginning. While they should not be authorized to speak to constituencies or the press (you have a designated spokesperson for that purpose), make sure your teams have the information they need to continue doing their job knowing that their leadership is on top of the matter. Cultivating this kind of loyalty through transparency can go a long way during difficult times.
5. Think of all your constituencies. Have a prepared statement ready to share if you receive a media inquiry; brief your staff and have talking points ready so when your employees field questions from customers/clients or referral sources, they are sharing consistent information across the board. These are key elements of a proactive effort to manage the communications and yes, speculation, around your crisis.
6. Share what you know and confirm that you will provide additional information as soon as it becomes available. Be honest. You may not be ready to share all the details (especially if the allegations are being investigated), but you must be honest. Own up to what went wrong, clarify that you may not have all the facts yet, and assure the public that you are taking purposeful steps to investigate what transpired and address the issue, if appropriate.
7. Set the record straight from the beginning and quickly correct misinformation. If you don’t correct false or misleading information, it will continue to be perpetuated, and those falsehoods will be harder to dispel down the line.
Clear and timely communication is vital during a crisis. Consider the alternative, when an organization “goes dark” during a crisis; it doesn’t take calls from the press, lets customer calls go to voicemail, and keeps information from their employees. All these missteps suggest to anyone watching that there is a legitimate reason that the organization under scrutiny is hiding in the shadows. And the presumption is that they did the wrong or bad thing that is being reported publicly.
But those organizations that are committed to maintaining trust among their constituencies and stand behind their brand must convey information honestly and in a timely manner.